"One of Rare's most brilliant games!!"

Introduction

Star Fox Adventures, one of the most anticipated games for this year has finally came out. They delayed so much, but now we have it, and it was worth the wait. It seems as if this is Rare's first Star Fox game, and probably last. You can tell they took a new direction with Star Fox by making it a land game, not a flying one. To all Star Fox fans, this game is for you!

First Impressions

When I first opened the case to this game, I could see it was not just any other ordinary disc. Just like Mario Sunshine, the Star Fox Adventures game disc is full of colors. It's not one of those boring ones with just the logo and stuff. The instruction booklet was also interesting, too. By reading it, you'll be told a lot of information such as control without having any spoilers in it. While this type of category does not really effect the game, but it is always something good to point out.

Story

Great story. A place in the Lylat system called Dinosaur Planet is being destroyed by invaders. As Fox, you must perform numerous tasks to help people and save the planet. It only gets a lot deeper from there and fairly innovative. Going into anymore detail would easily spoil this game for you, though. I'll say this though, you don't start off as Fox.....

Graphics

It's very hard to explain how impressive these graphics are. Not many games out today can match these godly graphics. Rare took over a year to work on this, and I could see why. The characters look excellent, especially Fox. You can see the fur-effect was done extremely nicely, but all the characters still look good. You could obviously see this was a big improvement over Star Fox 64 and even Super Smash Bros. Melee. Fox and everyone else plus the new characters have never been so detailed before. Another thing is, the characters are older in this game so Rare did a good job making them seem like that. The background, what many games have suffered from, is also amazing. Looking at something very closely will reveal that even the slightest and simplest things will have you know that they are very detailed. With the flying levels, you can even see they detailed a lot from very far away. Going into a more general idea of background graphics, you can see that they are very clear. Many types of themes are featured in this game such as snow, forest, fire, etc. I was impressed when I saw a lot places. Nothing is blocky or chunky. Everything has never been so clear before. Another good thing is that you can see things from a distance rather than having to travel to them to waste time on your adventure. Water reflection is also a nice extra. Unlike Super Mario Sunshine, it has been done with great care. While playing as Fox, you can see most of yourself when you look over the water. When characters also talk, you can actually see that there mouths are moving correctly unlike how it was done in Star Fox 64. The graphics in this game are superb, and just one of the many reasons why this is one of Rare's most brilliant games.

Audio

Knowing Rare, you would expect great music in this game. Well, they have not dissapointed you in this area. I could not find a single track that does not go with the background of a certain area. For example, you have strange music in the main areas shop, because it is a very strange place, and stuff like that. The music does not play too loud either. This was a problem in games like Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and Super Mario Sunshine. In those games, the music was too loud that you couldn't really hear the conversations. The music is probably different from the games on older systems because the Gamecube can hold a lot more power. This makes the msuic better, too. There is great voice acting in this game. At first, you will be suprised because they will not talk the way you assumed they would. When you first play, you will notice all the characters talk in a different language, but there are subtitles to figure out what everyone is saying. Only Fox and his crew can speak English, but eventually EVERY character in this game will speak English. If you by any chance picked up the fact that this game takes place eight years after Star Fox 64, you will notice all the regular characters have different voices. If this will make you happy, SLIPPY HAS GOTTEN LESS ANNOYING. Yep, he won't ask for much help anymore. Again, Rare makes small details seem interesting to make the game better. The sound effects are pretty good, too. It's Gamecube, so it has obviosuly gotten all better. It's very difficult to explain more about sound. Adding surround sound makes you have a better gaming experience though. The generaly audio section of this game also truly shines to make this game seem godly.

Gameplay and Play Control and Difficulty

Have you ever played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask before? If so, you would get a very good idea on how the controls work with this game. It is very identical to those games. For example, jumping is automatic, there is an action button, a target system, and that sort of thing. I actually kind of like how the control is done, becuase it makes the game easier to learn. Do you remember Navi/Tatl from those games? Well, Fox has a new companion named Tricky. He is a dinosaur who is a lot better of a partner than those annoying fairies. You can teach him to do many things such as dig for secrets, heel, and stay. Tricky was a great addition to this game. Stay is always helpful if he ever gets in the way and you will usually need him to solve the game's many puzzles. This does not mean it is a Zelda rip off though, far from it.

The battle system is awesome. You will never get tired of it. In a nutshell, you fight one enemy, there are many different types, at once, and you perform a number of moves and combos with your staff to defeat him. When you try this game, you will want to battle a lot becuase you will see how it is so fun. Fox can perform a number of combos and block, as well. The battle system is mainly focused on the one enemy you are fighting and the other enemies with that one won't be able to attack you, so it is all played nice and fairly.

There's also some flying missions in this game. Not a lot compared to your time on the ground, but it is all fun and a nice extra. Most of the tasks are not too easy at all. Collecting gold rings and shooting bad guys is a lot more challenging compared to the N64 and SNES versions. I didn't really like the fact that you could not lock on. It's not a big problem, so it will not make the game seem bad. The control is simple, too, yet interesting. You can do every single trick you did from the Star Fox 64 game that was out five years ago. The controls simply add to the fun of the flying levels. There are many upgrades and weapons to collect, too, such as those bombs and double lasers.

Another way this game is similar to the Nintendo 64 Zelda games is the Night/Day feature. What that means is that once a certain amount of time has passed, the game will either shift from day to night or night to day. Different things happen in the day and night. In the night Dinosaurs will sleep preventing any conversation with them, but in the day, you can speak to them whenever you want. There is a lot more other things that happen in this game during the night and day, too. My only concern is that the game switches time too quicky, although the light effect is brilliant. It's like looking at a real sunset.

This game wouldn't be so good if there weren't a lot of places to explore. Thankfully, there is a lot of places to explore. Also, there is so much to do. It's neat how many places link to Thorn Tail Hollow(I think the overworld, not sure). There's also a magic system. Using his staff, Fox can perform many things that have to with magic. He can launch projectiles, create a small force feild, and just use it regularly. It doesn't stop there, though! There's a lot more magic things to learn, but you would have to find them. You may also have found out there is no blaster in this game, Fox's main weapon he used in Super Smash Bros. Although it's not great he didn't have it, atleast the game gave a reason why instead of just leaving it a mystery.

All I could say is ''WOW'' to the gamplay!

Replay

I've noticed how many ''big'' one player games lack replay. This game is no exception. I found it kind of dissappointing that there was no multiplayer, but unless you are obssessed with video games, you will live! Once you beat this game( I haven't yet), it seems like the game you would want to play again. I still play Zelda: Ocarina of Time sometimes, and this game will feel no different. The replay could have improved a little.

I strongly recomend you buy this game. It's just way too hard to complete this game in just a rental. Don't rush it though. It's a lot more fun if you take your time, trust me on this one. While it did have lower replay value, all games do have weaknesses. There is no perfect game, but this game truly deserves a ten. If you have about $55, make sure you spend in on this game. It was worth it! If you don't have 55 dollars yet, work for it. You won't want to miss this excellent adventure game for Gamecube, esepecially since it is probably Rare's last! - - - Why are you still reading this? Buy now!